Centrica's power loss: Heat is on as another top executive walks away

Will the last one to leave turn off the gas, was the unflattering assessment by one analyst of the state of the Centrica boardroom yesterday, after Britain’s biggest power group announced another high-level departure.

The boss of British Gas, Chris Weston, will leave within the next 12 months to take the top job at generator hirer Aggreko.

It is the second time a British Gas boss has walked out of the company in the space of 18 months. Weston’s exit will also mark the fourth major change of roles at the company recently.

First, the chairmanship changed hands at Christmas, with Sir Roger Carr making way for Rick Haythornthwaite. Then finance chief Nick Luff, like Weston, said he would leave as soon as a successor was found.

Finally, chief executive Sam Laidlaw will also retire from the role as soon as BP’s Iain Conn – believed to be the anointed successor – irons out the delicate details of his pay package and joining bonus.

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Any investor who bought into Centrica last year will have seen the top guard completely change by the end of this year – an almost unprecedented move for a company not going through a major crisis. ‘It’s not an ideal situation,’ says Angelos Anastasiou, analyst at Whitman Howard. ‘They [job changes] have come in more of a quickfire succession than would have been wanted.’

He adds the political pressure on the role means it is ‘not a job for the faint-hearted’ – something that could make filling the vacancy more difficult than a run-of-the-mill divisional director.

The biggest challenge facing the replacements of Laidlaw and Weston is ‘getting through the competition inquiry and showing they are not the villains of the piece,’ says Anastasiou. But why the sudden rush for the door?

Centrica is facing a two-year probe into the energy market by the Competition and Markets Authority; its profits have come under increasing political pressure; and last year, when it hiked prices, David Cameron told consumers to boycott the company – leading to an exodus of almost half a million customers.

‘It may not be a fun place to be for a while,’ said Deutsche Bank analyst Martin Brough.

But despite the fierce political focus on the sector, some would say unfairly so, his heart did not bleed for the fleeing souls. He says: ‘Centrica is looking rudderless. This is dangerous in a world of increasingly choppy waters.’

So how does the company, which saw shares close up 5.5p at 336.3p yesterday, de-toxify itself?Rather than focusing on the US business, the cause of a profits warning late last year, Brough says the company should polish up its crown jewel – British Gas.

He argues Centrica ‘needs to rediscover its joie de vivre and be proud of (rather than embarrassed by) its British Gas brand’.

He adds: ‘Centrica has been heading in the wrong strategic direction for some time. We believe salvation could come from introspection and a resurrection of British Gas as its identity.

‘A reinvigorated British Gas has the potential to engage more effectively with the public on energy issues than political parties. A healthy and growing British Gas offers the best chance of a significant equity re-rating. However, this does not seem imminent.’

A positive public perception of the country’s biggest energy supplier – rather than the deeply held scepticism that currently holds sway – would be worth an extra £1 on the share price, he believed.But amid the turmoil at the top, there is one bright light for the group – Centrica could save on headhunting fees.

Last year, when numbers man Luff said he wanted to leave to go to publishing firm Reed Elsevier, Centrica took on Spencer Stuart to find a replacement. Earlier this year it asked the firm to find a replacement for Laidlaw.

Now it looks like headhunters at the firm will have their work cut out to find a British Gas chief too. Whether there will be a bulk discount is, however, unknown.